PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Kempsey blazed a trail in national awards with a picture of a shooting star above Glastonbury Tor.

He took nearly 700 pictures over a four hour period to capture the Perseid meteor shower bombarding the Earth.

Mike, of Burton Bradstock, scooped a Highly Commended accolade in the Royal Observatory’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for the picture.

Now the shot, called Meteor at Midnight, Glastonbury Tor, is on display in an exhibition at the Greenwich Royal Observatory.

Mr Kempsey, who works under the name of DT6 Photographic, said: “It was hit and miss.

“I was lucky but pleased to get one.”

He added: “It was a quite a good capture.

“It is hard to get a meteor. I just thought I would give it a go.”

Mike, whose work includes landscapes, seascapes and local scenes, took the picture before he knew about the competition.

He won £125 for coming highly commended in the Earth and Space category of the contest.

He captured the meteor at midnight from the south west side of the Tor looking north east. He spent about four hours on site but checked and deleted shots as he went.

The Perseid is one of the most prolific showers, often with around 80 meteors an hour during its peak. The Sky at Night’s Sir Patrick Moore was among the judges in the contest.

Mike sent comments in for the exhibition.

He said: “My interest in astrophotography stems from being both an incurable night owl and an incurable landscape photographer. “I have a long-standing acquaintance with the moon, and it has assisted me with my night photography on many occasions, but until last year, Perseus and its radiant display had escaped my camera’s gaze.”

Visit Mike’s website at DT6.biz